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7541. alistairConnor - 6/11/2008 9:40:58 PM Hey hey Misha Glenny would be TMachine's brother, if my memory is correct?? (TMac was on the Fray, I met her in NY in 1998, along with such luminaries as Wabbit, Webfeet and Marjoribanks.) I remember he wrote an authorative book on the Balkans back then... yes that's him! 7542. concerned - 6/12/2008 5:21:46 PM Re. 7536 -
I understand that Yurrup's use of petroleum products is increasing faster than that of the US. That fine by you, AC? 7543. concerned - 6/12/2008 5:25:36 PM Re. 7539 -
You using bicycles and public transportation exclusively yet, rjb? 7544. thoughtful - 6/12/2008 6:36:25 PM good memory, ac...i met tmac as well in her place in nyc...perhaps that was a different year? I don't remember meeting you or am I mistaken...the gray matter withers and dies, y'know. 7545. jexster - 6/16/2008 5:29:01 PM Honda's Hydrogen Car in CA 7546. concerned - 6/20/2008 4:36:56 AM Only $100,000 or so a pop. The insurance is a killer, too. 7547. alistairconnor - 6/20/2008 10:37:53 AM I have no patience with this hydrogen refuelling station crap. A tank of compressed hydrogen is simply not an efficient medium to store transportation energy.
Fuel cells, yes. Hydrogen fuel cells, yes. But ammonia as the storage mechanism. Far easier to fabricate, transport, fill up. They just need to get the on-board NH3 to H2 process right, i.e. affordable. And then we'll hear no more of hydrogen filling stations. 7548. concerned - 6/27/2008 10:53:14 PM CBS News sinks to new low; publishes crackpot global warming story, attributes it to Associated Press, kills it with no retraction
Must be more of that 'fake but accurate' CBS news that's fit to lose.
7549. concerned - 6/27/2008 10:57:45 PM Here's something that AC can really get behind.
Global Warming: Can Earth EXPLODE ?
Ooooh. That's good. Now it's not just the falling sky that global warming chicken littles have to worry about. Now they need to watch out for an exploding earth.
7550. concerned - 6/27/2008 11:22:57 PM 
Hey, AC! LOOK OUT BELOW!!!
7551. concerned - 6/27/2008 11:28:02 PM Re. 7548 -
I don't think CBS News can do any more sinking. It just moves laterally on the ocean floor. 7552. jexster - 7/1/2008 1:42:10 AM Tesla Motors Chooses Bay Area to Build Electric Car
and damn I've been seeing more and more Smart Cars about 7553. thoughtful - 7/1/2008 1:43:12 PM I'm still partial to steam engines, but no one is talking about them...except maybe target="new">BMW as a recapture device. 7554. thoughtful - 7/1/2008 1:44:25 PM I found this most exciting:
One of the [invention] sessions that [Bill] Gates participated in was on the possibility of resuscitating nuclear energy. “Teller had this idea way back when that you could make a very safe, passive nuclear reactor,” Myhrvold explained. “No moving parts. Proliferation-resistant. Dead simple. Every serious nuclear accident involves operator error, so you want to eliminate the operator altogether. Lowell and Rod and others wrote a paper on it once. So we did several sessions on it.”
The plant, as they conceived it, would produce something like one to three gigawatts of power, which is enough to serve a medium-sized city. The reactor core would be no more than several metres wide and about ten metres long. It would be enclosed in a sealed, armored box. The box would work for thirty years, without need for refuelling. Wood’s idea was that the box would run on thorium, which is a very common, mildly radioactive metal. (The world has roughly a hundred-thousand-year supply, he figures.) Myhrvold’s idea was that it should run on spent fuel from existing power plants. “Waste has negative cost,” Myhrvold said. “This is how we make this idea politically and regulatorily attractive. Lowell and I had a monthlong no-holds-barred nuclear-physics battle. He didn’t believe waste would work. It turns out it does.” Myhrvold grinned. “He concedes it now.”
It was a long-shot idea, easily fifteen years from reality, if it became a reality at all. It was just a tantalizing idea at this point, but who wasn’t interested in seeing where it would lead? “We have thirty guys working on it,” he went on. “I have more people doing cutting-edge nuclear work than General Electric. We’re looking for someone to partner with us, because this is a huge undertaking. We took out an ad in Nuclear News, which is the big trade journal. It looks like something from The Onion: ‘Intellectual Ventures interested in nuclear-core designer and fission specialist.’ And, no, the F.B.I. hasn’t come knocking.” He lowered his voice to a stage whisper. “Lowell is known to them.”
Full article: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/05/12/080512fa_fact_gladwell?currentPage=1
7555. jexster - 7/2/2008 7:48:56 PM As I've reported for the past several weeks, I am seeing more and more in my hood (just down the hill from this mash-up)
And to think, just a few short years ago McBush pushed through a 25K tax credit for SUV's
Test drive: The Smart car is revolutionary
A car small enough to alter your relationship with the city
 7556. concerned - 7/2/2008 9:31:14 PM Only 36mpg highway? Not very smart after all. 7557. concerned - 7/2/2008 9:32:06 PM Looks like it's about to be turned into a pothole patch by one of those SUVs too. 7558. jexster - 7/2/2008 9:56:32 PM 33 city
41 highway
Not sure I'd want to try highway but the guy has a point as anyone who's spent an hour trying to find a parking space around here will attest 7559. jexster - 7/3/2008 12:28:03 AM Damn. Just walked down to the corner for coffee and there was ANOTHER one of those little Mercedes
Only 14,000..still less MPG than a Prius but more legroom than a MiniCooper - probably the hottest seller, judging from what I see on the streets of San Fran
 7560. jexster - 7/3/2008 1:08:38 AM Oh the IRONY!!!
As GM sinks slowly beneath the waves at Wonkers's Regatta
Preparations for the smart fortwo began in the early 1990's with a Joint Venture between Mercedes-Benz and Swatch, the makers of Swatch watches known for their wide array of colorful designs. Nicolas Hayek, the inventor of the Swatch watch brought his ideas for an "ultra-urban" car to Mercedes-Benz.
smart remains a vital member of Mercedes-Benz Cars, a Daimler AG Company.
smart USA, a division of Penske Automotive Group, is the exclusive distributor for smart in North America and Puerto Rico. smart USA is headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The smart fortwo is already somewhat of a "star" in the United States. It has the privileged distinctions of being on display as a work of art at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York City. It is the only vehicle on display at MOMA which is still in production and on sale today
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